Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

After rethinking my last post, I agree with you about not wanting to introduce more problems, i.e. insects and lizards and maybe even a stray "gator" from the conservation pond in the back yard. So, have decided to go with the 60 degree temp for a week or two and systematically check my sticks over the next few days before rushing to purchase a freezer. However, any sign of the beasties and I will be first in line at Walmart/Target.
ylo2na

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Thanks SilverFox, great info! To the freezer my little babies :tu

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Great information. I've never had this happen to me, but I'll start freezing all cigars before they go in my humidors.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

It's a great practice, especially as you expand your collection. Think of the money invested. Small piece of mind to help insure your investment doesn't go to waste.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Nice post, any suggestions on freezing more then one cigar at a time? Is it ok to put say 10 cigars in a bag when freezing?

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Sure, you can put more than one cigar in a bag at a time. Just do your best to squeeze out any air. You can also do whole boxes this way.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Thanks for the reply. That works, My stash should be OK and is small but I have been meaning to freeze some that came from a few retailers that I'm a little leery about. I will take the weekend and freeze them, The last few cigars I froze I used those ziplock freezer air seal bags. The ones where you pump the air out, and they worked pretty good. :)

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Matthew, Just make sure you freeze everything, all sticks. It's better to start now if you have a small stash versus going back and then saying, oh crap I should have froze everything.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

:tpd: Freezing some and not others is pretty much like freezing nothing at all. Freezing doesn't make cigars immune from beetles, just kills any eggs/larvae/beetles that happen to be in them. Put a frozen cigar next to a never-frozen cigar and any beetle issues that start in the never-frozen cigar can easily transfer to the frozen cigar. General rule: don't trust anyone; it's your stash and up to you to protect it.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Similar to the last two posts, if you previously froze some cigars and then mixed them with never-frozen cigars, you're going to want to freeze them all, even the ones you froze previously.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

They all shall be freezed then. I got half in the freezer right now and I will get the other half ready to freeze.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

So I have a question. How long can an egg lay dormant? I mean if an egg doesnt hatch for say a year...will it ever hatch?

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

I have not been able to find any studies done on this, and the ones that do address it, use words like "for some time". Also of note, some studies simply say that unless a temp of 80F is reached the Lasioderma serricorne will remain dormant. So that leaves the door wide open.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

I will be freezing mine this weekend, until then I have a suspect box in my old coolidor. Can I freeze a box that is not full (ie has 20 out of 25 sticks) or should I just unbox and freeze all 20 together? I'm thinking the latter. Has anyone had any issues from not removing enough air? I'm going to buy a bunch of the freezer food saver bags but if I can do it with big ziplocks that would be better. After having beetles hatch it's going to be a relief to freeze and not worry every day above 72f in the house.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

You can use the big freezer ziplock bags, just make sure you suck as much of the air out as you can with a straw. I got mine in the freezer today. One bag I used a ziplock vacume seal bag. Sucked the air out, then put it in a freezer ziplock bag and sucked the air out. The other two I just used the big ziplock bags, did the same thing and then bagged them again etc. Hope that helps some.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Either/or, it doesn't matter. Why would it matter if you remove all the air or not? :confused:

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

I think freezer burn maybe? I read it somewhere. Something about moisture trapped in the air, so any extra air or too much and you can get frost on the sticks. Something or another. Ill have to see if I can find where I read it.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Freezer burn takes weeks to occur. As long as you get most of the air out you should be fine, the main thing is to be sure you freeze long enough. 72-96hours. :2

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

I don't know, I'm just assuming it could cause the cigars to burst since there is all the talk about removing air. I don't see any mention of it. I think as long as they are sealed in the RH that I would what to store them in I should be safe from and drying effects in the freeze. What the hell I'm going to do it and quit yapping.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Sorry bro but that makes no sense to me. Moisture is much higher in the cigars than in a bag you just put them in. That tiny, tiny amount of room temp air isn't going to harm anything. Been freezing for almost 6 years and never had any problems. It's not rocket science. Double bag the cigars, leave in freezer, take cigars out and let them acclimate to room temp then in the humidor.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Lol, go ahead and disregard my rambling.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Froze many a box, never completely shed of air. NEver had any problems whatsoever. Recipe: -10F in my deep freezer for 3 days, 6 hours in the frig, then unpack and store away. Smoke at your leisure. Mr. Biscuit has a valid point - the air is fine. Double-bag and go.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Re-reading my post I came off a bit harsh. Sorry for that. http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/images/icons/icon11.gif

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Np, I should have found some info first before posting. I'm sure it just confused Jake more then it did help him. I was going off of memory, and you are more experienced then I am in this matter! Thanks for your info and input Chutney.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Finished freezing my first bundle today and i didnt screw anything up thanks to this thread :banger

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Cryonics (from Greek kryos- meaning icy cold) is the low-temperature preservation of humans and animals who can no longer be sustained by contemporary medicine, with the hope that healing and resuscitation may be possible in the future. Cryopreservation of people or large animals is not reversible with current technology.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Yeah, great. This thread is about freezing cigars. I know you feel you have to post something to justify your vendor links, but can you make that something cigar related?

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

But is cryopreservation of cigars reversible, Tom? I have heard serious wrapper damage can occur.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Vin, the last time I cryopreserved my cigars, I actually went back in time.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Maybe I'll try that -- I'd like to go back to when I fit into size 36 Levis -- when I was 15.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

I enjoyed the past, until I found out there was no microwave popcorn before microwave ovens were invented.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Didn't know you were old enough to even remember a time before microwave popcorn Admiral! :lr

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

My Mom bought the original Amana microwave when they came out, I think that thing weighed 150 pounds, Michael. :r

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

We had one of those too -- it was a "Radar Range"... Big, Clunky, and very cool at the time :)

It was so big it did not fit on the counter and we had to get a little table for it...

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Well I am paranoid now lol. Should I freeze my whole stash now?

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

yes

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Can you freeze them too long? Reason I am asking is I have some new cigars and my humidor is set to be delivered today. Can I freeze them while I season the humidor?? Or should I wait and store them in tupperware untill I get the humidor squared away and then freeze them for storage?

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Just freeze them when they come in, then put them in the tupperware while you wait for the humidor to be ready.

As for too long, depends. A week? Nah. 10 days? Nah. A month? Yeah, probably, but depends a lot on the freezer. Not that it'll physically hurt the cigars so much as they might start to pick up that wonderful "freezer/frost taste" after that long if it's one that cycles tempratures a lot or is opened often (like most home refrigerator/freezer combos).

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

well i did a huge batch freeze of everything in a brothers meat freezer. we forgot about a bag of sticks. they were cheapies but i think they were frozen for 3weeks. They are smoking fine.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Do I understand the OP correctly?
At 32 degrees it would take 1176 hours to ensure beetles of all stages are killed?

"0 degrees C Time to 100% mortality 1176 hr"

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Yes, that is correct. However a typical home fridge can get colder than that.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Even at 23 degrees it would take 504 hours?
That is a lot longer than I thought, I have some in the freezer now, guees I will leave them in longer than planned.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Does your freezer keep ice cream well? If so, then it's certainly colder than 32F. Get yourself a reliable thermometer and see just how cold it is. My home freezer is around 0F. It swings up and down but that's about average. At that temp it takes only 12 hours.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Thanks guys. My freezer is new and it maintains -2* so I should be good to go.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

After the freezing process is done, do you need to put a box into the humidor in any special way? For example, after freezing I used to put all my boxes in with their lids cracked for a couple weeks to let the cigars balance out, but now room is tight and I'm not able to do that anymore. Is it going to be a problem to put a full dress box in there with the lid closed? Will the cigars still be able to balance out?

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

You shouldn't have to crack the lids on any boxes once they go back into the humidor. Just to reiterate from the OP though, it's wise to go from freezer to fridge in order to bring the temp up slowly THEN go to the humi. I follow this practice religiously, and it has given me great peace of mind.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

I wasn't clear enough, but that's what I meant by the "freezing process." This box has already gone fridge (24 hours) -> freezer (3 days) -> fridge (24 hours) -> room temp (12 hours). Now that that's all done I was wondering about cracking the lid upon placing the box in the humidor, so thanks for being able to answer my actual question despite my unclear explanation! :D

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

I got a nice sample box from AVO with 7 sticks in it. Can I just freeze the sticks or should I just put the whole box in the freezer? I do plan on putting them back in the box and in the humi after the freeze cycle.

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Box and all brother. Don't overthink it.:tu

Re: How to Freeze and the Science behind it. Long Post
 

Thanks Tim, I do that sometimes :)